All seven people aboard an air ambulance were killed when the aircraft crashed in India’s eastern state of Jharkhand, officials said on Tuesday.
The Beechcraft C90 medical evacuation plane, operated by Redbird Airways, took off from Ranchi on Monday evening bound for New Delhi but encountered problems shortly after departure, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Authorities said the aircraft requested a change of flight path because of adverse weather conditions before losing communication and radar contact about 20 minutes after takeoff. It crashed in the Chatra district, an area of dense forest where rescue teams later recovered the bodies and sent them for post-mortem examinations.
Deputy Commissioner Keerthishree G confirmed that all seven on board, including two pilots, the patient and his relatives and attendants, were killed in the crash.
A team from India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has been dispatched to determine the cause of the accident, and officials noted that aviation crash probes typically take months to complete.
Relatives said the patient aboard was being transferred from Ranchi for advanced treatment in Delhi after suffering severe injuries in an earlier incident.
This incident follows other recent aviation accidents in India, underscoring ongoing safety concerns in the sector.